Friday felt like preparation day — the kind where you don’t panic, but you do start thinking ahead.
Michael and I set out with a simple mission: birdseed, a shovel, and some salt for the sidewalk and stoop. Easy enough, right?
Our first stop was Ace Hardware. There was a sign by the door that read “Storm supplies are nonrefundable.” That gave me hope. Surely that meant storm supplies existed somewhere inside.
They did not.
We did manage to find birdseed, which felt like a small victory, but there was no shovel and no salt. Michael mentioned he had seen a shovel earlier in the week at Giant but didn’t want to impulse shop. I explained — patiently — that purchasing a snow shovel before a snowstorm is not impulse shopping. It’s simply being prepared. History supports me on this.
We tried Lowe’s next. Also nothing. We thought about Walmart but looked at the parking lot and the line of cars going in and said NO we won't.
We tried Walgrens and no nothing so we gave up and headed home, where Michael heated up the beef vegetable soup he had made on Thursday. We’d had a change of plans and gone out to dinner with our friends Mark and Susan. So the soup had been waiting patiently. It was delicious, and the evening was relaxed and unhurried — a good way to ease into a winter weekend.
Saturday morning brought renewed optimism. I had read on Facebook that our nearby CVS had shovels, so before meeting John and Judy for breakfast, we stopped there.
No luck.
Breakfast, however, was excellent, and included plenty of laughter — especially at Michael’s continued belief that shovel-buying qualifies as an impulse purchase. I should mention we do own a shovel. It simply has a small crack, which Michael considers perfectly acceptable.
After breakfast, we stopped at Starbucks for my Skinny Caramel Macchiato. I am earning my stars, after all, and that seems important to note.
Back home, we settled in to wait out the storm… until I decided that if we were about to be snow- and ice-bound, we might as well go to dinner. So off to LongHorn we went. No regrets and saw a good friend while we were there so that was a win.
That night, we went to bed with nothing falling from the sky, which always feels like a tease. By morning, it was a full winter wonderland — snow on the ground followed by sleet, then freezing rain.
Sunday was quiet and still. We were able to watch our church service thanks to the staff and their thoughtful pre-planning and recording, which always makes me grateful. It doesn’t feel quite the same as being there, but it’s comforting not to miss it altogether and I was with others doing the same.
The rest of the day was lazy for me. Michael, on the other hand, spent much of it outside keeping the sidewalk and front stoop as clear as he could. By the time we went to bed, the storm had passed, though the roads were still questionable.
Monday confirmed that staying put was the right decision. Roads were not good, nearly everything was closed, and another day inside stretched ahead of us. Then, around 10:15, the sun came out — bright, cheerful, and completely unapologetic.
As if on cue, the forecast is already hinting at another winter weather event next weekend. Whether it arrives or quietly changes its mind remains to be seen, but it does seem winter isn’t quite finished making its point. We’ll keep the shovel with the small crack handy — just in case.
As others began navigating early-morning departures, with the weather the way it was, I asked Susan to keep me posted on their travels that morning, She was lauging that I probably could have turned the whole thing into a blog. She’s not wrong — there was a story there. But don't worry they made it safe and sound and off to have a wonderful time with family.
Sometimes the journey doesn’t involve going anywhere — it just asks you to pay attention.
P.S. This weekend reminded me that not every story requires a suitcase — so we’ll see where that leads.
